1692 A year that they would never forget
by LadyLudvika
Summary: Salem 1692; Aunt Clara is babysitting with baby Samantha when magistrate John Hathorne, a powerful man involved in the witch hunt, knocks at the door...


**Note: I'm Swedish and English is not my native language, therefore it may occur some faults. **

**SALEM 1692 **

In the dim light of a candle sat a beautiful red-haired woman, dressed in eccentric, but beautiful clothes, and gently rocked her baby to sleep. The little child was not an old child, for she was only six months old and her name was Samantha. The little girl had a sweet bright face, small well-shaped lips, almond shaped green eyes and a head covered with small golden curls. It was, with other words, one of the most adorable children ever seen that the beautiful, red-haired woman held in her loving arms.

"Is mama's little darling tired", the woman asked softly and gently stroke her child's small forehead. "Oh, I do believe you are. Your small eyelids look so heavy."

Suddenly, without warning, a man, dressed in fashionable, very elegant clothes appeared out of the thin air.

"Oh Maurice, do you have to do that", cried the woman. "You know how it scares Samantha."

"Well, I'm afraid she has to get used to it", the man happily replied. "Is she asleep yet?"

"Almost".

"She better fall asleep soon. We absolutely can not be late to the Shakespeare Society's Annual Dinner Dance."

"Oh Maurice, relax! Besides, Clara isn't even here yet."

"It is typical Clara to be late a night like this! I wonder where she is?"

The sound of a loud bang was suddenly heard from above.

"My guess is on the roof", said the woman and shook her head.

A slightly older woman with her hat askew appeared at the door.

"Maurice, Endora - I am so sorry that I am late", said she "I chose the wrong entrance."

"Why don't you try the door next time Clara", said the younger lady, got up from her chair and carefully put the baby down in its cradle. "I just got Samantha to sleep and she will hopefully not wake up until we get home. If she does, and is hungry and cries, just call me and I'll be here right away."

"Oh, I am sure that the little darling will not give me any problems", said Clara and smiled. "She is, after all, a sweet and wonderful child."

"Of course she is" replied the child's mother. "She takes after me."

"Nonsense", Maurice said and looked firmly at his wife. "It is me she takes after."

"It is not!"

"It is!"

"Maurice, sometimes you a…"

"Endora", Clara interrupted. "If… if you want to get to the party in time you better leave now."

"Oh yes. Good bye Clara. Take good care of the baby."

"I will", Clara answered and smiled. "Have a good time at the party."

"We will for sure", Maurice said and with a pop, he and his wife disappeared.

* * *

Two hours after Endora and Maurice left for the Shakespeare Society's Annual Dinner Dance and left Clara alone with the baby, Clara, who had fallen asleep on the chair next to the cradle, was woken by loud and intensive knocks on the front door. She rose from the chair, staggered to the door and opened it. At first she couldn't see anything except bright light but as her eyes got used to the strong light she could make out the contours of a large group of men with burning torches in their hands.

"He.. hello', she stammered nervously. "What… What can I do for you?"

A man dressed in black and white, obviously a magistrate, stepped forward and said with a dark and deep voice; "My name is John Hathorn and I am a member of Governor's Council. Are you the owner of this house?"

"No.. No, I'm not", answered Clara.

"I see. Could I please speak to the owner of this house."

"I'm af… afraid that that is not possible. My sister and her husband are not here."

"Really? Where are they may I ask?"

"They are at the An…", Clara stopped and gave the man a nervous smile. She couldn't tell the man that Maurice and Endora were at a party in Stratford-Upon-Avon in England.

"Well lady, where are your sister and her husband?"

"They… They're gone.", Clara quickly replied. "They're gone."

"Gone? Do you mean that they are not here anymore (he implied that they were dead, but Clara, confused as she was, did not understand that).

"Yes.. That.. that is ex.. exactly what I mean", she answered.

"I understand. Well, that wi…

He was interrupted by the sound of a baby crying, it was Samantha who had been woken by the noise outside.

"What is that", magistrate Hathorn asked.

"Oh, that's the baby, my niece", Clara proudly answered. "I expect she is hungry."

Magistrate Hathorn stood silently and stared at Clara for a short while, then he turned around, faced the large crowd of people behind him and said with a loud and steady voice; "The man and woman we hoped to arrest are not with us anymore, they're gone. But their child, a daughter of the devil, is still with us. We have to destroy the child before the child destroys us. (He turned to Clara) Madame, please step aside."

Clara did not know what to do. She tried to come up with a spell but she could not think of any. She desperately tried to move her arms but they felt heavy as stones. Her head began to spin, she had a difficulty breathing and it blackened before her eyes. The last thing she could remember before fainting was the voice of man who said; "We'll take the child to Thomas Danforth, he will examine her."

* * *

Clara woke up half an hour later. At first she could not remember what had happened, but after a while, everything came back to her. She quickly rose to her feet, looked around in terror and rushed up to Samantha's cradle. To her great fear, she discovered that the cradle was empty.

"Oh… Oh no", she cried. "What a… am I to do? Oh, that poor child! Think Clara, think!" Suddenly it struck her. She knew exactly what she would do. She conjured up a pencil and paper, wrote a short message to Maurice and Endora, placed the message in the cradle and moved to the middle of the room. She raised her arms and said;

*My niece Samantha is in danger,*

*Let me be her guardian angel. *

*Bring me to the place she is,*

*And she'll be out of risk.*

With a pop, Clara disappeared.


End file.
